


Captured

by Delyrium



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Dragon Age: Inquisition Quest - Champions of the Just, Red Lyrium, Red Templars, Therinfal Redoubt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 14:12:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16599419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Delyrium/pseuds/Delyrium
Summary: Cullen Rutherford visits Knight-Captain Denam in the Therinfal Redoubt prison shortly after the events of CotJ to discuss Denam's actions under the Lord Seeker, along with Denam's rather interesting family history. The red templar Knight-Captain, however, hasn't yet abandoned his dreams of glory, even if there's nothing he can do at the moment but wait.A short fic done to fill the prompt "Thunderous" for the Unofficial Dragon Age 4 day.





	Captured

The red templar Knight-Captain awoke to his entire body aching and the clanking of steel-soled boots resounding on stone floor.

 

Slowly opening his eyes with a groan, Denam, the templar Knight-Captain, found himself lying in what appeared to be a cold, dirty cell. From what he could recognize based on the cell’s interior and the area he could see beyond the iron bars, Denam was still in Therinfal Redoubt. He had been down to this prison room many times-- but this was his first time actually being locked up here.

 

What exactly had happened to land him behind bars? The last thing Denam could remember was being sent by the Lord Seeker to meet with the oh-so important “Herald of Andraste”. Beyond that, he could recall trying to take down the company the Herald had come with in order to bring her to the Lord Seeker, and... well, that hadn’t really gone so well. Denam vaguely recalled being blasted with fire by a mage who had accompanied the Herald before getting slammed to the ground by a shield bash.

 

“Knight-Captain Denam.”

 

Denam was snapped out of his thoughts by a voice he immediately recognized as belonging to a man named Cullen Rutherford, who was now the commanding officer of the Inquisition’s military force. Denam had known Cullen back in Kirkwall, as they had both been knights under Commander Meredith’s jurisdiction.

 

Denam had never forgiven Cullen for getting the promotion to Knight-Captain that Denam had rightfully deserved. Cullen hadn’t even served under Knight-Commander Meredith before his promotion-- he had been brought in from Ferelden.

 

“Cullen Rutherford. I figured we might meet again, though I wasn’t aware you had personally come over with the Inquisition to grace us lowly knights with your sparkling presence.”

 

“Your sarcasm is noted, Denam,” the Inquisition’s Commander of Troops replied irritably before continuing.

 

“You are going to be tried before the Inquisition, but for now we’re simply going to keep you locked up. The next order of business is for the Herald and what is left of Therinfal Redoubt’s templars, who are now serving under the Inquisition, to close the breach. I have personally asked to take charge of your sentencing. We went over the documents found in your office, and from what’s been read, it’s clear you knew exactly what you were doing while serving the Lord Seeker.”

 

So it seemed that the Inquisition had gone into Denam’s office and found all of his private documents along with the body of Knight-Vigilant Trentwatch. This wasn’t sounding so good.

 

“I did what was asked of me. The Lord Seeker gave orders, I followed. That’s what templars do. You of all people should understand that.”

 

Judging by the completely unconvinced expression on Cullen’s face, the Inquisition’s commander had not been moved by Knight-Captain Denam’s attempt to defend himself. What a hypocrite the man was, Denam had seen for himself exactly how far Cullen had been willing to go back in Kirkwall just to follow Commander Meredith’s orders. As Cullen had been willing to do whatever his superiors ordered back in Kirkwall, surely he would have served the Lord Seeker just the same had he been in Denam’s place here.

 

“I read the logs of the orders you gave, Denam. You even forced red lyrium on your closest brother-in-arms after he told you he wanted nothing to do with the substance. I remember Kevlar from back in Kirkwall. He was willing to follow you to the ends of the earth in order to protect you from harm. You would have died at the beginning of the Mage Rebellion had it not been for him sticking his neck out for you. He trusted you to take the moral high ground, and how did you respond? By subjecting him to mind- and body-wrecking poison, that’s how! So many knights suffered and died by your hands, it’s sickening.”

 

Kevlar... where was he now? Kevlar had been like a younger brother to Denam, ever since he had come to serve in Kirkwall near the start of the Fifth Blight. Still, Cullen was wrong. Knight-Captain Denam had done what was right for Kevlar, no matter what Kevlar had thought of him after Denam had forced him to go on red lyrium. The red lyrium was the Order’s path to glory, and the damn Inquisition had wrecked that plan. Now Denam was locked up, and the dreams and song Denam had seen and heard through the red lyrium which had promised him glory might never come true.

 

“Just in case you’re wondering, Kevlar was among the casualties during the fight here at Therinfal Redoubt. So if you’re thinking he might appear to break you free, you’re banking on false hopes.”

 

So Kevlar was dead. There went that chance of being broken out indeed. After all the work Denam had put into carrying out the Lord Seeker’s orders, including the pain of having to sacrifice his own men and women towards a greater purpose. It just wasn’t fair.

 

“I have some confidential information I need to discuss with you, Denam. Guards, go back upstairs for a few moments. I’ll be fine on my own. The bars are sturdy and Denam looks like he can barely stand. Wait at the top of the stairs, I’ll call you down when I’m done.”

 

The prison guards and templars who had come down with Cullen headed away from Denam’s cell and out of view, leaving Cullen and Denam to talk privately.

 

“I want to discuss your family. You’re the only prisoner down here at the moment, so the Amell’s secret will be kept safe.”

 

“What do you want to know about my family? They all abandoned me, and I wasn’t ever told much of anything. Right now you’re just rubbing salt on the wound, but then again, I’m sure that’s probably your intention.”

 

“First,” Cullen began, ignoring Denam’s statement, “I want to make it clear that I’m not keeping this confidential for your sake. I knew Warden Amell back in Kinloch hold, and I want to make sure her family’s name isn’t dragged into the dirt any more than it already has been in the past. The Amells don’t need filth like you disgracing their name further.”

 

As far as Denam was concerned, the family couldn’t possibly get disgraced any more than they already were, especially after what had happened with Hawke siding with the mages back in Kirkwall. If anything, Knight-Captain Denam would have brought the Amell name to mean something better than what Hawke had made for it. Of course, the recent turn of events had put a major hitch in that plan.

 

“I’m not going to let anybody know about your family heritage, and I would advise that you do the same. The story that leaves here is that those Amell family shields in your office were simply nick-knacks that you acquired because you fancy Kirkwall nobility, not because you’re secretly an Amell. You’re just ‘Knight-Captain Denam’, like you’ve always been. Understood?”

 

“Fine. If you must know, I purchased them off of some vendor in Lowtown before leaving Kirkwall for the Lord Seeker’s march to Val Royeaux. I don’t care, really. Just thought I should be entitled to something my blood relatives had.”

 

“I doubt you’ll keep your word if you find the desire to make your heritage known, but trust me, I will find some way to make your sentence worse if you let anything slip.”

 

Whatever. Denam knew that he had been chosen for greatness, and it didn’t matter whether the world knew he was an Amell or not. The red lyrium had brought him a clarity few had ever seen or heard, and it had showed him that his time to shine would come. No former Knight-Commander, Inquisition, or even Herald of Andraste was going to stop him. Denam Amell was the herald of something even greater than even Andraste Herself, and they couldn’t hope to keep him contained. Even without Kevlar, Knight-Captain Denam would find his way out of this imprisonment and into the grandeur he rightfully deserved.

 

However, that time was not now. For now, Knight-Captain Denam would wait for the Red Storm to come and lift him to glory. One day, it would truly begin-- and Thedas was going to bow before it.


End file.
